Chapter 17 – Freedoms Boundaries, at Home and Abroad The Populist Platform Elizabeth Beeman History 207B - 73339 Also known as the People’s Party, in 1892 The Populist Platform sought for reforms to our Nation which they saw as being on the verge of ruin, caused by political and economic inequality. Corruption in government was rampant. People were demoralized by the conditions they found themselves in. It became necessary for voting in most States to take place in protected areas where the ballot boxes would not be stuffed, voters would not be intimidated and bribery could be held at bay. Because newspapers were largely subsidized they did not favor echoing public opinion. Those seeking to work were denied protection they could find in organized labor. Imported labor of unskilled workers, willing to work for lower wages, compromised their livelihoods. Militias had been established to quell the unrest of the people and to prevent demonstrations, upon risk of death. The Populist movement contended that a government of the people could only exist through brotherly love, force was not the solution. …show more content…
Inflated, false concerns over tariffs drown out the voices of the people shifting focus from the oppressions of corporations, banks, and the demonetization of silver. Vast fortunes had been built upon the back of the poor and downtrodden polarizing in two classes, tramps and millionaires. Populists contended the rich were willing to destroy the majority in order to protect their funds. Conditions were so dire and concerns so high they questioned whether the Nation could survive under the status
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and Louisiana dictator Huey Long, two very powerful people with two very different extremes. Long and Brownback both have similar and dissimilar ideas when it comes to their ideology, policies-principles and their constituents reactions. From “Every Man a King” to “Let's create a legal system that can work.” both governors change lives. Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is an American politician currently serving as Governor of Kansas.
The United States gained its independence in 1776. After that, the United States struggled with numerous tariffs and compromises that can be arguing to be the cause of the civil war. With the gruesome acts of slavery in the south, it show that the north and south have been fed up and was begin to tear apart. The rise of political parties contributed to numerous political beliefs and ideas.
Treading Water In a democratic government, corrupt workers are constantly looking for ways to take advantage of the system. Even representatives that the people trust greatly trust sometimes uncovered as thieves and scandals. In Mississippi, corruption has made itself a very prevalent problem. Research shows that “corruption is costing Mississippi taxpayers an average $1,308 per person per year” (Mitchell).
These conditions led to the creation of radical movements such as Unions (e.g Knights of Labor, National Labor Union, American Federation of Labor etc.,) and third political parties(e.g. Socialist Party, Populist Party etc.) These radical movements sought to improve the lives of the working class and
The Gilded Age was an age of rapid economic growth. Railroads, factories, and mines were slowly popping up across the country, creating a variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurs and laborers alike. These new inventions and opportunities created “...an unprecedented accumulation of wealth” (GML, 601). But the transition of America from a small farming based nation to a powerful industrial one created a huge rift between social classes. Most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor, with workers being the latter.
The saying that history repeats itself has been proven to be true time and time again. History seems to be doomed to repeat itself as if lessons were never learned from past mistakes. The Gilded Age is a unique period in American history that is undoubtedly repeating itself in the modern day. Corruption, unprecedented immigration, and the massing of wealth by the top 1% of the population are just a few of the things that characterize this period of American history. The same issues that plagued America over 100 years ago are re-emerging in todays’ society leading scholars to say that America has arrived in “The Second Gilded Age”.
The Populist Party otherwise called the People’s Party was founded before the Civil War, the party consists of farmers, laborers, and socialists, where most of the populist came from the South and the West. The party adopted a system to change the debt-stricken way how the farmers, support the laborers and the shortening of workdays for the industrial workers and a few types of reforms, for example the right to referendums, recall and female suffrage, which many farmers and workers believed that the Populist Party was a voice for their anger and a gross for inequality and injustice in the American society. In the meantime, Labor 's efforts to organize and collectively bargain with the trusts were systematically suppressed. All these things
The Populist believed in reducing the hours of labor to eight hours so that the working class may receive more freedom. The attempt at reducing work hours became very widespread, especially alluring to a lot of industrial workers. According to the Constitution of the Knights of Labor, “The reduction of the hours of labor to eight per day, so that the laborers may have more time for social enjoyment and intellectual improvement…” (Doc 12) Granting the average worker to eight-hour work days, workers were allowed opportunities for the remaining hours on what they wanted to do with it such as spend family time, finding another job, or just lounging around.
The war fever made the political parties even more divided. People did not trust immigrants. Federalists thought the immigrants would back the Republicans. Congress passed the alien act that raised the time to live in the U.S. to be nationalized from 5 to 14 years (9 years longer) and gave the president the power to deport or imprison any alien he considered dangerous. People thought this was unfair, so Congress passed the sedition act (sedition is activity designed to overthrow government) that harshly limited free speech by making it illegal to write and say anything insulting, false, or with “bad intent” about the government.
From the time of the Pre-Civil war America the political framework consisted of mainly only two parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. While each group went through its own struggles and changes they were strong enough to stay alive and continue to oppose each other. The Gilded age brought along another party, the Populist Party also known as the People’s Party. The Populist Party according to The American Spirit was “The populists represented Westerners and Southerners who believed that the U.S. economic policy inappropriately favored Eastern businessmen instead of the nation’s farmers.” To combat the economic hardship and the government ignoring the famers they created the Populist Party.
Populism and Progressivism were two very important movements in US history, that occurred during the outbreaks of the workers union after the civil war. These movements led to the formation of the Populist party in 1892 and the Progressive party in 1912. While there are many similarities between the two movements, they are also very different. The two parties fought for very similar things.
The 19th century was a period of widespread social, economical and political problems in the United States, from the 1890s to the 1920s in need of reform. Both parties were created by the people’s dissatisfaction with the government and its ability to appeal to the majority. The Populist movement was founded my farmers, laborers and middle class civilians that wanted government regulation in the economy, more authority in the government, educating immigrants, to prevent government corruption and high positions to be based on experience.
The Populist party was a political party in the 1890s which mainly consisted of the working class, predominantly western farmers. The populist platform was largely based on eliminating capitalism and giving agrarian farmers more opportunities to make money. The populist party lasted only a short four years, with its end being the result of a failed presidential campaign during the election of 1896. The populist party was not successful in achieving any of their political agenda, and their ideas are not relevant in today’s government.
During the time of the Gilded Age the governemnt (politicians) was very corrupt. Everything they did was for their own gain. " At the national level, many lawmakers supported bills aiding companies in which they had invested money or from which they received stock or salaries," (pg. 617). This quote shows that the governments lawmakers did things for their own gain intead of the good of the people.
Populism is the support of concerns for ordinary people. Since populism grew very popular people created there own political party, the People's Party or the Populist. Populist demanded radical changes for federal economic and social policies. Populist built there platform around several issues from more money in circulation to the government owning communications and transportation systems. Populism impacted life in the United States in a positive way.